Claustrophobia
by Kayla-chan1990
Summary: Fai comes face to face with a fear formed when he was young due to a faulty machine in a world they are in. Written for help Japan comm. on Livejournal.


Welcome readers, I hope you enjoy this fic, it was written as a prompt for the jivejournal group Help_Japan, made to help send relief money after the earthquake and tsunami.

Winner (LiveJournal name): Mikkeneko  
>Prompt: Fai suffering from claustrophobia do to being trapped in the tower.<br>Word offering: 1000 minimum  
>Total count addording to FFnet before Author's notes: 1,256<p>

Disclaimer: Tsubasa and all it's characters are copyright of CLAMP. I am only using this as an outlet for my artistic interrpritation, and to help out Japan.

Thank you for reading. 

* * *

><p>"This world does seem to be more advanced than the others we have been in recently, we might be able to find something to help us here..." Syaoran muttered to himself for the most part as he looked up to the other two in his group.<p>

They had just arrived in the current world the night before, but having arrived so late, it seemed all the shops had been closed for the day, so they had taken the time to rest. It was a rather modern world, somewhat similar to their time back in Outo, but also seemed to have some things they had only seen in their times in Piffle.

"We should split up to see what we can find... I'll head down to the library, can the two of you ask around to the people upstairs?"

"No problem Syaoran-kun, Kuro-sama and I can handle it, good luck finding something," Fai nodded in agreement to the idea, "Take Mokona with you so you won't be lonely!"

This was in the little fluff ball's mind the cue to pop out of Fai's cloak and jump on-top of Syaoran's head, "Mokona will go! Mokona will help Syaoran find lots of good stuff!"

"Tch, shut up you manjuu and the both of you get going already... come on Mage let's get this talking to people who won't listen over with..." Kurogane muttered as he nodded to Syaoran and started heading off to find his way back to the main floor.

"Coming Kuro-sama," Fai smiled as he followed after Kurogane, finding the other's impatience somewhat cute.

The two mini-groups set off into their own directions to get their work done, Kurogane soon noticed Fai acting odd when he started pushing him towards the stairs instead of the quicker way this world seemed to have, a weird moving box compartment called an 'elevator', Kurogane wasn't a fan of it himself, but it was useful and would make their job a lot quicker.

"Come on, Kuro-sama~! It will be nice to take a nice calm walk up the stairs together, it can be romantic yes?"

And there was that smile again... the one Kurogane had long learned meant something wasn't right with Fai...

"Mage... either tell me why you don't want to get on the elevator... or get on it now..." Kurogane told him as he pressed the button to hold the door open for Fai.

Fai looked at him for a moment, smile still in place, until he let it fade, sending a slight annoyed look to Kurogane as he got into the elevator, trying to not pay attention as the door slid shut, and the elevator started its assent to the higher floors.

'It's okay Yuui... you can do it... it will be over in a second... this isn't that tower... it's a nice safe room you are in with Kurogane, you will be perfectly fine,' He kept chanting to himself, eyes closed focusing on anything but the lack of space in the room, listening two the dings of the machine as it went up, 'Just three more of those and I'm okay, just three mo-'

Fai was pulled from his thoughts as he felt a sudden jerk that caused the elevator to come to a complete stop.

"What the hell was that?" Kurogane complained as he looked over to Fai hoping for an answer, one that didn't come. His eyes widened a bit when he saw Fai's back slowly sliding down the wall, own eyes looking large and distant, as if he was lost.

"OI! Mage... Fai? What's going on? Get up... mage?" Kurogane stammered, a bit confused as to what was wrong.

"No... not that place... can't be trapped, NO!" Fai muttered to himself, not sure where he was any more, visions slowly appearing all around him, visions, scenes of himself, scenes of his brother, his twin long gone from all worlds, of Fei Wong, of Ashura... So many images filling his mind and embedding themselves once again, tears sliding down his face as he tries to ignore them.

A mirror shattered in his mind, and suddenly he was standing in the middle of the cold barren wasteland he had spent who knows how many years in, suddenly he could see himself and Fai, the real Fai, grasping their small boney hands towards each other, stretching them as far as they could, trying their hardest to have just a second of human contact.

Fai slowly stepped closer towards them, reaching out his own hand to try to touch himself, or was it his twin, he no longer knew after all the twisted memories he had tried to forget and get over... and slowly the image faded, and he was slowly spiraled into another vision...

Outside of Fai's mirage, Kurogane was desperately trying to get Fai to snap out of it while trying to figure out how to get out of the cursed elevator.

"Damn it mage, snap out of it!" He growled a bit as he tried to get Fai to snap out it, "Come on, you're safe, you don't have to act like this."

Fai unconsciously collapsed against Kurogane's chest, tears continuously flowing, still tormented by the visions as the new one becomes clearer in his mind...

He was standing in the same place as before, now it was clear, he could see the mentally shattered image of his past self, clutching onto his brothers body, he was remembered all the feelings of being there, the feelings of loneliness, the feelings the white landscape closing around him.

He couldn't take it any longer, his mental self, collapsing on his knees in the snow, as the image slowly started to fade away, and once again, another started to appear...

Fai was confused by his newest vision, it was scary memory, another of the times he was effected by his phobia, but... it was a memory that turned out happy for the most part.

For he was witnessing the moment when his world had stood still, when everything was literally collapsing around him, but he was content in it, he was witnessing his friends being taken to safety, and he willingly being left behind, he was witnessing when he was saved from the small bubble causing him to be killed by his biggest fear, when he was saved by Kurogane...

'Kurogane... where is he... he was here before the visions started... and now he's not... why can't I see him?' Fai thought to himself as he started to try very slowly come out of his nightmares., and suddenly all the visions were gone, all that was left was pure darkness, calm darkness, leaving him to mutter out one word, "Kurogane..."

"Fai, snap out of it, wake up," Kurogane held onto him after his collapse, watching him closely to see what would happen. He noticed when Fai's distant eyes slowly started to focus, resting their focus on the floor of the elevator.

The owner of those tear stained eyes slowly lifts his head to look up at the one holding him, his body shivering as he looks up at him for help.

"Damn it... If you knew you were going to act this way, you should have said something instead of putting on that mask again... Don't EVER do that again." Kurogane growled out in a remanding voice.

"I... I'm sorry, Kuro-sama, I didn't' want to be a burden about this... please help me... get out of here... please Kurogane..." Fai pleaded as he leaned on him again, eyes slowly starting to close, allowing him to slowly drift to sleep for the rest of their entrapment, the last thing he felt before falling into his rest was Kurogane holding him closer, accompanied by the whisper of a deep voice saying, "Rest for now, when you wake up we'll be out of here," causing a small smile to appear on his sleeping lips as the last tears started to fall...

Fai blinked awake with a start; he looked around to see he was lying in his hotel room.

"How... how did I get back here?" He thought aloud to himself, happy to be in a safe place, his eyes instantly shifting to look out of the window nearby.

"I brought you here to rest after the hotel workers finally got us out... the kid said they had some little brats jumping in the other elevator and it caused both of them to stop," Kurogane explained as he walked closer to the bed, "How are you doing now?"

"I'm fine... I'm sorry I didn't tell you straight out... I suffer from claustrophobia," Fai started explaining as he slowly sat up and moved to hug Kurogane in a way to thank him, "I promise I'll tell you straight out next time... it was terrifying, not knowing what would happen to me."

"Hn, it's fine now, I'll just have to remember romantic walk means avoid fear in your annoying language..." Kurogane muttered cause Fai to let out a real smile and grabs Kurogane's synthetic skin covered left arm.

"Now, let's go check on our son and youngest daughter," Fai joked as he started walking out of the room towards the room of the others to see how their day had gone.


End file.
